[droptop]

Ok, lets start at the trucks heat, It sucks!, when i stop at a light it blows cool, when i start going it gets warmer to moderate hot, now i was told if i put a 195 stat in it will help, but heres the other problem, the truck pings like crazy and everyone says to put 180 stat and M1/plenum cover in there to fix/help that..sooo what the hell should i do?

i bought both stats in preperation, but is the heating problem something else than the T stat?
if i put the 180 in will the heat be non existant?concidering it sucks now?..my buddies 99 ram is doing the same thing so is this a fairly common dodge defect?If all else fails should i pull the heating system out of a ford..lol(anyone whos had a a ford knows what i mean here)

help me out if you can guys.. thanks in adavnce..Dave

 

[GlenC]

On 2005-12-06 20:11, droptop wrote:
Ok, lets start at the trucks heat, It sucks!, when i stop at a light it blows cool, when i start going it gets warmer to moderate hot, now i was told if i put a 195 stat in it will help, but heres the other problem, the truck pings like crazy and everyone says to put 180 stat and M1/plenum cover in there to fix/help that..sooo what the hell should i do?

i bought both stats in preperation, but is the heating problem something else than the T stat?
if i put the 180 in will the heat be non existant?concidering it sucks now?..my buddies 99 ram is doing the same thing so is this a fairly common dodge defect?If all else fails should i pull the heating system out of a ford..lol(anyone whos had a a ford knows what i mean here)

help me out if you can guys.. thanks in adavnce..Dave

I don't have an answer for you. As a matter of fact I am having the same problem. I posted this question earlier today and am waiting for some sugestions.

 

[Robert97dodge]

I am running the 180 degree thermostat and my heater works great. What problem you may have though is that your thermostat is sticking. Does you temp guage get really hot when you slow down or while driving? On my dads truck the thermostat is sticking and the heat will start blowing cold and the temp raises hot and then I can usually rev it up and the thermostat will open and the heat will get hot and the truck will cool off. Try changing the thermostat and see if that helps. I would go with the 180. That is what I have always ran and been problem free.

 

[GlenC]

On 2005-12-06 20:23, Robert97dodge wrote:
I am running the 180 degree thermostat and my heater works great. What problem you may have though is that your thermostat is sticking. Does you temp guage get really hot when you slow down or while driving? On my dads truck the thermostat is sticking and the heat will start blowing cold and the temp raises hot and then I can usually rev it up and the thermostat will open and the heat will get hot and the truck will cool off. Try changing the thermostat and see if that helps. I would go with the 180. That is what I have always ran and been problem free.

I am a$$uming I have the 195 in mine. Once the truck is up to its normal running temp (a little over half way up the gauge) it stays there with a little varience. However, as I stated in my other post the heater only gets what I call luke warm.

I know you are in Texas so does the 180 T-stat affect anything in the winter months? I have one in my closet but was waiting to put it in.

 

[droptop]

Nope my temp stays the same never goes higher then it ever has, i think(not lookiing at it ..but) i think its like two lines down from the 210 spot if i remember correctly, im not sure what stat is in there now, but i would a$$ume that with only 40K and me being the second owner that its the orig one..

 

[juiceyou321]

Yeah this freakin sucks, my truck takes FOREVER to heat up, if it does at all, and even then it always runs cool...like 160. Do you seriously have to remove all those brackets to get to the thermostat?

 

[muddy]

On 2005-12-06 22:51, juiceyou321 wrote:
Yeah this freakin sucks, my truck takes FOREVER to heat up, if it does at all, and even then it always runs cool...like 160. Do you seriously have to remove all those brackets to get to the thermostat?

it's been a wile sense I've looked at one, but IIRC, it's just two bolts to change the T-stat. just drain a little coolant, remove the water neck, and put in the stat.

 

[muddy]

On 2005-12-06 20:11, droptop wrote:
Ok, lets start at the trucks heat, It sucks!, when i stop at a light it blows cool, when i start going it gets warmer to moderate hot, now i was told if i put a 195 stat in it will help, but heres the other problem, the truck pings like crazy and everyone says to put 180 stat and M1/plenum cover in there to fix/help that..sooo what the hell should i do?

i bought both stats in preperation, but is the heating problem something else than the T stat?
if i put the 180 in will the heat be non existant?concidering it sucks now?..my buddies 99 ram is doing the same thing so is this a fairly common dodge defect?If all else fails should i pull the heating system out of a ford..lol(anyone whos had a a ford knows what i mean here)

help me out if you can guys.. thanks in adavnce..Dave

when my truck was pinging, it did have a bad plenum gasket. yes, sometimes running a 180* stat, or even changing to a cooler spark plug can help, but the best thing to do is check the gasket to see if it's bad. to check it, shine a light down the throttle body and see if there is oil in the intake. if there is oil in there, then chances are pretty good that the plenum gasket is shot. also, if the gasket is shot, changing the T-stat at the same time would be a good idea. also, before installing a new T-stat, drop in into some boiling water to test it, just so that you know it's working before you up it in the truck.

 

[sltlaramie]

My t-stat got stuck shut over the summer. It got hot really fast and would not open. I replaced it with a 180. You can replace the t-stat without removing the other stuff, but it is a pain. Now that it is winter and temps are in the teens, my truck is running about 170 and puts out decent heat. not as hot as it was, but it is still very comfortable. If you are worried about it, get the 195.

 

[chizzle1]

I have a 180, have had it for about 2-3 years now. Even in Germany, and here with the temps being anywhere from 4 to 20 degrees, the heater works good. Takes maybe 5-8 minutes longer to defrost the windshield, but other than that, no problems.

You need to get a ratchet, socket, a 6" extension, RTV, and a pair of pliers...that's it. Should take no longer than 10 minutes.

There is even a tab on the t-stat housing to prevent improper installation...sometimes this tab is more of a problem than a help.

The cooler t-stat will fix the pinging. If you drive it too long with the constant pinging you could burn a valve.

 

[BR]

might be a semi clogged heater core. when driving, its pushing a lot more water through it b/c the water pump is moving faster. when at idle, it slows down, and the heat is taken out of the core and the incoming hot water is not coming fast enough to keep hot air out of the vents. mine sucks too, i have a 180 and i'm putting in a 195 this winter. it takes forever to heat up, and when it does, it never gets warm enough in the truck to where i need to shut it down. its a regular cab too. you can change the thing with just moving the alt i think, might not even have to do that, but i think there is a bracket that holds the throttle cables that is bolted to it. i use a long a$$ pair of needle nose pliers to snag the housing out, and to put the new stat in.

 

[robike]

sounds to me that you have a bad plenum gasket. if you've never replaced it, i can almost guarantee it. the 180 thermostat is just a bandaid for the plenum. slap the aluminum plate from hughes engines in there and you'll be good. it's also good to reverse flush your cooling system before winter... it may get any clogged crap out of your heater core.

 

[droptop]

On 2005-12-07 15:07, robike wrote:
sounds to me that you have a bad plenum gasket. if you've never replaced it, i can almost guarantee it. the 180 thermostat is just a bandaid for the plenum. slap the aluminum plate from hughes engines in there and you'll be good. it's also good to reverse flush your cooling system before winter... it may get any clogged crap out of your heater core.

how would i go about reversing the flow to flush it? water hose with the stat out?, i wouldnt be surprized if something is clogging the heater core, this truck has sat a long time, im not sure its ever been flushed, maybe when im off next week ill take it to the shop my buddy works at and hook it to the flush machine they have there, i got home late tonight so i didnt get a chance to look in the TB and see if i see any oil, hopefully i wont get home late tomorrow.if not ill check it on the weekend